


Three Ghosts and a Twisted Tale

by Bonfoi



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: 2013, Alternate Universe, Bondage, Community: hp_darkarts, Dark Doings, Dark fic, Darkness off-stage, Dickens' A Christmas Carol fusion, Grey fic, Inspired by A Christmas Carol, M/M, Nakedness, Other, Post-Deathly Hallows, Slash, Suspense, Swearing, Winter Solstice myths, fest fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-06
Updated: 2014-01-06
Packaged: 2018-01-07 16:25:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,378
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1121997
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bonfoi/pseuds/Bonfoi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What starts out as a dark and dangerous commission becomes part of a curse and a Christmas story everyone knows.</p>
<hr/><p></p><div class="center">
  <p><br/><b>Challenge:</b>  HP_Darkarts’ <a href="http://hp-darkarts.livejournal.com/64735.html">Multimedia Exchange</a> 2013  Prompt 1 - 18. Resurrection Stone and/or Ghosts/Poltergeist</p>
</div>
            </blockquote>





	Three Ghosts and a Twisted Tale

**Author's Note:**

> **A/N 1:** Many, many thanks to kindness of the HP_Darkarts' mods for the opportunity to dabble in the dark sandbox, and the extension so that this story could find its feet and come to fruition. To my sister, EmJay, for her editing and corrections, even if slash makes her break out in hives. To every Snupin lover out there who has given me encouragement and huzzahs—thank you one and all and a Blessed Yule to everyone!  
>  **A/N 2:** Usually I write a long piece for Lupin_Snape’s Snupin Santa Fest, but, this past year, I got an opportunity to play on the darker side of the Potterverse street. It was fun being anonymous, darker—even though I only went steely grey and not darkest black—and then bringing it back to pale, silvery grey. Any mistakes are mine and mine alone—I tweaked and nudged at EmJay's fine work all because my muses decided that I had to. To one and all, I hope you all had a great Christmas Holiday and are on the road to a bright and imaginative 2014!

**Charles Dickens was most certainly a wizard.**

§¤§¤*§*¤§¤§ 

**Disclaimer:** _The world of Harry Potter, its characters and settings are the copyrighted works of J.K. Rowling, Warner Bros., her publishing companies and affiliates. No profit was made from the writing of this story nor was any malice intended in any way, shape or form to the author or the actors/actresses who so brilliantly have brought them to life._

_This author is not responsible for underage readers. Please observe the ratings, warnings, and age of legal consent for your country._

§¤§¤*§*¤§¤§ 

**Characters:** Severus Snape, Remus Lupin, Teddy Lupin, Eileen Snape, Fred Weasley, Lily Potter, Lucius Malfoy, Harry Potter, Draco Malfoy, a Goblin

* * *

**~ Prologue ~**

The grinding of stone upon stone woke Severus. He squirmed as he found his arms were tied around a stone column. He wouldn’t have minded so much, but when he opened his eyes, he saw Remus Lupin bound to another stone column. While the beast was silent, he was also disturbingly naked, backside against the rough-hewn column. Severus had a difficult time keeping his eyes from straying southward…

_“Nguh…”_

Thankfully that groan had dragged Severus’ glance upward, away from temptation. Another internal voice disagreed, vehemently.

“What in Morgana’s name happened?” the unobservant Lupin asked, his own eyes still hidden behind bruised-looking lids. He tried to move his arms and chains scraped against the column holding him upright.

“What’s the last thing you remember?” Severus said in a stage whisper. It was satisfying to see Lupin start at the sound of his voice, and bang his thick skull back against the column. It was damned satisfying!

“Ow…bloody hell, that’s hard,” Lupin whinged. Severus had to bite his lip to keep his chuckles back, but his eyes strayed downward and suddenly his teeth were trying to stop his own groans from slipping out.

Lupin squinted through the pain. “Snape? Severus?”

“Aye, who else would it be?” he snarled, tearing his interested gaze away from Lupin’s _assets_. Then he muttered, “Isn't this just my luck?”

* * *

**One Week Earlier**

 

“I wouldn’t be here if you weren’t the best.”

Severus looked up from his paper-strewn desk, his sinister hand falling over the pages of an ancient tome. He shook his wand out of his forearm holster and slowly raised it.

“You don’t need your wand, but if it makes you feel better, then by all means, do be obvious and keep me covered while I tell why I’ve come.” The man sitting across from Severus was pale, dark-haired, with icy blue eyes. If Severus was pressed, he’d describe the man as brittle, with sharp cheekbones and chin.

Taking the man at his word, Severus brought his wand out and pointed it him. “Related to the Malfoys?” he asked with a sneer. “Or the Blacks?”

“My name is—”

“Don’t lie. Unless, of course, you want the truth detection spell on that chair to electrocute you when you do so?” The other man’s eyebrows rose, but Severus saw the moment when bravado turned to sly consideration.

“I am Lucius Malfoy under a disguising charm.”

“Remove it and I might listen to you.”

The spell was removed with a touch of a plain cane's handle to Malfoy’s chin. He sat in regal hauteur, suddenly less brittle than sharp, less indefinable than enigmatic. All in all, he still set Severus’ teeth on edge.

“Back to the matter at hand—why are you here, Mr. Malfoy?” Severus pressed his foot to the enchanted carpet under his desk and began recording. His wand never wavered from Malfoy’s chest which earned him both a sneer and icy acknowledgement. It also got his client talking.

“My wife has always been genealogically-minded.”

Severus had seen several articles by Narcissa Malfoy in _The Daily Prophet_ , all of them illuminating the skeletons of other Pureblood families. Merlin, how bigots had changed their anti-Muggle tunes when their ancestors had been linked to William the Conqueror, Robin in the Hood and the Sheriff of Nottingham, Good Queen Bess and the de Medicis, even the great William Shakespeare and Imhotep. Suddenly, Severus’ interest was slightly piqued.

“She recently found a…” Malfoy’s lips twisted and Severus leaned forward slightly. Malfoy began again. “Narcissa’s research has recently linked our family to an _undesirable_ connection.” Malfoy’s eyes dropped down to scan Severus’ desk. “I’d like you to remove this blot on our escutcheon.”

Severus set his elbows on the desk, wand still held in his right hand, chin falling into his left. He stared at Malfoy, a Pureblooded prat in the mould of his childhood nemesis, Sirius Black, _but_ he was a fellow Slytherin. Severus had tagged after the blond as a Firstie, read of his exploits as a junior councilman in the Ministry of Magic, and now here he was, asking one of the few half-bloods more at home in Slytherin than himself, for what amounted to a favour. Before he committed himself, Severus needed more incentive, or information, whichever came first.

“What is this blot’s name?” Severus averted his eyes slightly, but they both knew it was merely a ploy.

“Remus Lupin.” A tic began throbbing in the right upper quadrant of Malfoy’s mouth. “He’s a werewolf, as you well know.” They both remembered Severus’ heated owl-post to Lucius when he’d outed the lycanthrope during the beast's year teaching at Hogwarts. Neither one mentioned how remorseful Severus was a week later. “His great-great-great-great grandmother was a Malfoy, Tintinnabula Lovegood Malfoy. Her daughter married a Frenchman, Reynard Lupin, during the French Revolution. Narcissa discovered there was issue of that miscarriage, ah, marriage. Three sons.” Lucius looked over Severus’ shoulder, his eyes unfocussing as he stared at something only he could see. “One of these sons is my great-great-great grandfather, Ambrosius Lupin Malfoy.”

“Pardon me. Why aren’t you a Lupin?” Severus lifted his chin from his palm, letting his hands fall to the blotter on his desk.

Malfoy’s pale perfection became tinted with a rosy glow. “The Malfoy coffers of that time had been decimated by gamblers, roués, and other disadvantageous marriages. We had to marry money and the Frenchman had scads of it, being a mining genius as well as providentially seizing several noble properties after the Revolution.” Severus watched his client swallow. “The contract is still in a viewing box within the private wing of Malfoy Manor. Lupin’s advocate was a Dumbledore," Malfoy's mouth twisted into an ugly scowl and just as quickly regained its malicious curve as he continued, "and a powerful wizard in his own right, who deemed it fitting that such a reminder should remain visible in perpetuity.” He sniffed superiorly. “That’s neither here nor there. Remus Lupin is a relative, one that if Narcissa’s research becomes public knowledge, could sue for assistance in his extremity.”

“You’ve been to your own barrister, Malfoy.” Severus smirked. “You know I don’t do killings anymore. I haven’t been a spy for a decade, nor have I swum in the dankness of _illegal_ Dark Magic and death for that long.” Severus leaned back, insouciant, and twirled his wand between his fingers. 

“If you’re asking for me to _remove_ Lupin, to put it euphemistically, you’ll turn blue before I even consider it these days. If you want me to send him away for you, it will still cost you a pretty penny.” He slanted a sly look at Malfoy’s stony face. “If you want me to do anything else, you shall be disappointed.”

Malfoy’s cold pale blue eyes flickered toward Severus’ face and then down toward his wand. “I want you to locate Remus Lupin and remove him from Britain.” He squared his shoulders and set both hands on his cane handle as he directly addressed Severus. "I have sufficient funds to set you up in a style to which your mother had been accustom—"

Severus' sudden lunge across his desk, wandtip lit with crimson fire, stopped his words.

"Cease any allusions to my mother or her blighted history, Malfoy, or you'll creep out of here on four legs," Severus hissed, wand pointed straight between Malfoy's eyes, the very real, very hot flames licking at his skin.

Malfoy swallowed gently, the only outward sign he was shaken. Then he opened his mouth again. "As I said before, I have sufficient funds for you to relocate to more spacious rooms, and as a token of my faith in your efforts, I have a pouch of 100 Galleons on my person." Malfoy's cold blue eyes never wavered from the heated wandtip as he spoke.

Severus relaxed his aggressive stance and slipped back into his chair, and his detached persona, as he contemplated Lucius Malfoy, leader of society, stained pillar of the community after that fiasco with the Dar-, with Tom Ridiculous, and once and future kingmaker. With a slightly pinched expression, Severus stood and crossed to the door, waiting for Malfoy to take the hint and follow him. When the other man did so, Severus held out his hand—the one without the wand—for the promised bag of Galleons.

The pouch made a jingling sound as Malfoy reached into his robe pocket and extracted it and then held it over Severus' waiting palm. "If you won't kill him, would you, perchance, maim him? All to the better, remove his ability to speak?"

Looking the pale eyes that just then showed some human spark of anticipation, Severus raised his hand to pluck the bag from Malfoy's fingers. "I'll take your wishes under advisement." He tapped his wand, mercifully now barely glowing with magical intent, against the door and it opened obediently. "For the record, Mr. Malfoy, why such venom for Lupin, after all this time?"

Malfoy's gaze warmed so much that it blazed as a flush enlivened the man's classical, pale features to a semblance of living. "His ward," he spat out, "is courting my son!" Malfoy looked as if he'd inadvertently swallowed Veritas Serum as the words escaped. He pursed his lips, breathed deeply, and resumed speaking. "I will not have my son in the same room as that monster if I can help it." Malfoy gave a brisk nod and stalked out into the bare, gloomy hallway outside Severus' private quarters.

A flick of his wand closed the door—and reset the wards—so Severus felt comfortable turning his back on it as he rolled the partial payment across his palm. He'd hated Lupin for years, decades, until his long-buried, tamped-down fear had overridden his prudence, and he'd exposed the man's open secret to the world at large. That had not been his best laid plan.

He sat down, not at the desk, but in a barely concealed nook, body relaxing into the cushy contours of his favourite high-backed reading chair, feet plopping one at a time onto the worn leather of the matching ottoman. He let fall the bag of galleons gently onto his lap so he could steeple his fingers before his face and fall into his thinking pose. The silence was barely broken by the hustle and bustle of Muggle London outside one window and Diagon Alley outside the other.

*** *** *** *** ***

"So, who do you think his royal pratness went to see?" the dark-haired man asked his partner.

"You're the Auror, Harry Potter, not me." The man leaned close, his voice dropping as he responded, "Good thing you're good looking, Potter, or I'd have to see about getting another model."

Without taking his eyes from the building they had under surveillance, Harry smirked. "Draco, whoever it was, they wouldn't last the day and you know it. Your mother alone would scare them shitless." He blinding—and unerringly—reached out to snag Draco's hand and twined their fingers together. "Add Lulu to the mix and all hell breaking loose would be a mild description."

"Now, use those magic powers of yours and tell me what you see in that window directly above the door." He pressed their joined hands against his hip twice and then released Draco.

"Oh, very well, light of my life and purveyor of all that scares my father almost Muggle…" Draco sighed as he straightened up and moved a step away. He turned to face the building, his features taking on a strange, unearthly cast as his gaze became unfocused. His breathing slowed until it was barely observable. Then, a mist rose from his chest and floated determinedly toward the window Harry had indicated. It flowed through the air like a snake through the grass, silently, eerily flickering until it budged up against the window's glass.

The mist rippled and rolled over itself a minute later, small lightning bolts shooting off of it. Draco's lips opened and a thin sound, barely a moan, escaped. Harry turned toward him, but he held himself still as the mist reversed its previous course and flowed back toward, and into Draco. Once his features were warm, then Harry lunged forward and wrapped his arms around his lover.

"Draco," he whispered urgently, "Draco, talk to me. What happened?" His breath was warm against Draco's chilled skin.

"Just a bit less of the clinging vine and more the supportive boyfriend, if you please," Draco huffed out. His own arms wormed their way under Harry's Auror's robes in plain defiance of his words. His head fell onto Harry's shoulder as he just breathed. 

Moments passed, neither one caring for anything but each other. Then, Draco began to speak, whispering into Harry's neck. The shock of what he'd found out caused Harry to stiffen and pull Draco closer. The pair of them were slowly surrounded by a hazy cloud of magic as Draco fell silent.

"He's alive," Harry finally breathed out. Draco nodded tiredly against his shoulder. "He's fucking alive and he let me, let us, think he was dead," Harry growled. The cloud coalesced around them, obscuring the buildings around them. Draco shivered in Harry's embrace. The cloud contracted and suddenly became a swarm of lunar moths fluttering around them.

Harry turned his head and whispered softly against Draco's ear, "Sorry, Draco. I shouldn't be so angry, should I?" 

"No, you shouldn't, you beast," Draco muttered, his smile against Harry's neck soothing them both. "Let's get back to Grimmauld Place and I'll tell you more. But, right now, I need some food."

"Kreacher'll have my head for letting you stand out here after all that magic."

"Well, as long as I can have the rest of you, he's welcome to it." They both chuckled, the sound floating on the still air as they Apparated away.

*** *** *** *** ***

Remus Lupin—formerly of the faculty of Hogwarts and precincts unknown—wiped the sweat from his brow and grimaced down at the map in his left hand. Albus Dumbledore had gone to great lengths to take care of his lost lambs, even in death.

"If you had to give me a Yule gift, Albus, couldn't you have done it someplace warmer?" he muttered under his breath as his eyes traced over the latest legend to appear on the map:

Seek the Holly King clothed in darkest night, snow white in visage. He holds the key to the greatest gift. A merry Yule to you, Remus. ~ A. 

"Holly King? So, that makes me the Oak King in all this?" Remus shook his head and shivered anew as he rounded yet another fairy mound. "Trust you to send me all the way to the wilds of the Scottish Highlands then off to Shetland, and now you want me to find mythical figures that fight to the figurative death every year." Remus blew on the fingers of first one hand and then the other, wand tucked behind his ear as he surveyed his surroundings. There wasn't a holly bush to be seen. Let alone a being that rules the winter season! 

The chill wind crept under his coat, making him wish for the warmth of his last refuge, the wizarding community of Amalfi. Sun, sand, bright-eyed men... Remus sighed and shivered as he concentrated on his inn's location. He never saw what looked like acorns tumbling out of nowhere...knocking him unconscious.

*** *** *** *** ***

"Harry!"

"Hullo there, Teddy," Harry said with a chuckle. He looked down at the young boy wrapped around his leg, grinning up at him. "Will you watch over Draco while I talk to your grandmum?"

Teddy shook his head 'no'. "You have ta go in together. Granny El told Granny Andie."

Harry and Draco shared a look. _Granny El?_ Draco mouthed. Harry shook his head slightly and tickled Teddy behind his ears, making ripples of colour flow through the boy's hair as he laughed.

"Harry? Is Draco with you?" Andie called from the kitchen. "Bring him in here. I have someone to introduce to him."

Teddy pulled at Harry's leg. "C'mon, Harry, c'mon. There's gingerbread men in there."

"You heard the young man, Harry." Draco smiled softly at Teddy. "I like gingerbread men, too, at this time of year." The trio walked—Harry boosting Teddy on his foot—down the hall and into the delicious scents of the kitchen.

Andromeda Tonks was icing cooled gingerbread men as a person-shaped mist floated at her shoulder, a soft conversation flowing between the two of them. As the form wavered, angular shoulders and a beaky nose could be made out—especially if one squinted a bit. Then Teddy ran toward the pair, his words falling over themselves. "Granny El! Granny Andie! See, I greeted 'em just like you said to. Can I have my biscuit now?" His hair grew shoulder-length and dark, his grin the spitting image of Remus' as he waited, shifting from one foot to the other.

"Oh, young 'un, what a delight ye are," a soft, throaty voice spoke. The ghost—for it couldn't be anything else—turned and then flowed around Teddy, much to his delight if the flashing colours of his hair were anything to go by. "What do you say, Andromeda? Has this fine gent done a remarkable thing?" 

Harry and Draco stood stock-still, blinking at the apparition. Unconsciously, Harry edged in front of Draco, is wand slipping down into his hand. Just in case.

"Of course he has, Eileen. Besides," Andromeda wiped the tip of her icing bag before setting it aside. "Didn't you just tell me that your Severus had a sweet tooth for gingerbread himself?"

Draco came to his senses—and the manners ingrained into him—first. He cleared his throat and then stepped around Harry, sending him a reproving glance as he did so. "Madam, if you are who I believe you to be, I had the privilege of being calling your son my Head of Slytherin." He bowed slightly as the mist swirled and then coalesced in front of him. "Draco Malfoy, at your service."

"Ah, Abraxas' grandson." She chuckled, a remarkably warm sound. "A pleasure, lad, a lovely pleasure." She made a vaguely curtsying motion. "My name is Eileen Snape." Harry made a gurgling sound at that. "Your young man seems surprised, even tho' he's been staring at me hard enow to melt the gilt off a Malfoy's hair." 

Andromeda choked on a laugh as she pulled the last tray of gingerbread out of the oven. "Harry, do put away your wand. Cousin Eileen is my guest." She nudged a chair away from the table with her foot as she pressed a glass of milk into Teddy's hands. "Now, all those that might be hungry for dinner had best sit. We'll eat and tell the tale while we do it." She smiled in Eileen's direction. "That's how your mother would say it, El." Everyone sorted themselves, Harry putting his wand away, but setting himself between the apparition and Draco, body language screaming with protective bristling. A tray of sandwiches floated off the counter and onto the table, and for several minutes, the sounds of a regular meal in the Tonks' household held sway.

After a bite of his sandwich, a few thoughtful chews, and a determined swallow, Harry asked the question foremost in his mind: "Why is Severus Snape's mother's ghost called 'Granny El' by my godson?" Draco winced slightly as he kicked Harry's leg under the table; Harry barely acknowledged the correction.

"It's right and proper for a boy to call his grandmum by her name, Harry." At his disbelieving glance, Eileen chuckled and floated into a sitting position nearer to him. "You see, young Ted might be borne of Andie's gel, but it was my Sev's magic and potions what brought the babe to fruition." She seemed to share a dark glance with Andromeda and then shivered into greater cohesion. "Be that as it may, Teddy might call me anything he wants as I'm Andromeda's cousin as much as yours."

Harry stilled at the news of their connection. The cogs turning in his head were almost visible. "So..." Harry winced this time as Draco's kick was a bit more forceful. "Ah...what brings you here, then? We just discovered your son's alive, so you're not here to tell us—"

"Harry Potter!" Andromeda admonished him. "You'll keep a civil tongue in your head in my house."

"Yeah, Harry, Granny El's okay," Teddy affirmed with a stern glance and inky black hair. Then, he went back to paying attention to his food.

"You've been told, Potter." Draco rolled his eyes, wiped the crumbs from his lips, and leaned forward to address Eileen. "Madam, please put him out of his misery. It was a shock to find out Severus is alive. It was on par with finding out he's his father, and now to meet a grandmother..." Draco's voice trailed away softly. Harry looked anywhere but at Eileen, cheeks flushed.

"What Draco's trying to say is that I was a prat and a rude bugger, and I need to know what's going to happen. It's not always a good thing for me to meet my relatives," Harry said carefully.

"Albus said you've a Slytherin streak of disbelief a mile wide," Eileen said with a smile. 

Harry's eyes flew to her hazy ones. His whole body turned towards her ephemeral one with attention. "Professor Dumbledore? He spoke to you?"

"Aye, young 'un, he did. He charged me with a message for my fraidy cat son and ye: I'm the first of three ghosts of this Yuletide season, Harry. I bring news of the past."

"Like the ghosts in [_A Christmas Carol_ by Dickens](http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/46)?" Harry asked disbelievingly. He shook his head and then pushed his chair away from the table, sandwich half-eaten. "No. No, no, no! I am not Ebenezer Scrooge and this is no bloody fairy tale." He stood up and stalked away from Draco's reaching hand and everyone else's surprised reactions.

Eileen floated serenely in place, bobbing in the breeze of his passage. "Charles said some take violently to the idea," she murmured under her breath.

*** *** *** *** ***

Severus looked at the beast, no, man—he hadn't been able to easily call Lupin 'beast' for many years now, if he were honest with himself. A wry, internal smile at that had him reviewing his main potion ingredients instead of giving in to tender sentiment.

> Oak shavings, to soak up the tears of sorrow.  
>  Moonstone, to illuminate the darkness of the beast.  
>  Myrrh, to bring forth a meditative trance.  
>  Holly leaves, to cleanse the blood.  
>  Ginger, to heat the cleansed blood.  
>  Dew collected from fairy rings, embodying a month of moonshine.  
>  Mistletoe, to bestow the kiss of life.  
>  Rose quartz mortar and pestle, to grind the ingredients together.  
>  Copper cauldron, to hold the potion.  
>  Connemara marble knife, to sever a bond.  
>  White hind leather thongs, symbolic bindings of a new bond.

Severus' lips twisted at the last items. Druidic magic was far too _sympathetic_ for his sensibilities, but it was a necessity during Yule.

A groan drew his attention back to Lupin's recumbent, half-dressed form splayed out across yet another Druidic remnant: a circle of standing stones. The stones stood as silent sentinels as Severus visually checked the positioning of Lupin's limbs. As the moon rose, a dark and hidden presence, Severus lightly kicked at one of Lupin's feet.

"I know you're awake, Lupin. There's no sense in shamming any longer." He crossed his arms and watched Lupin open his eyes and turn his head carefully. "Really, Lupin, you should realize by now that it is your lot in life to be bound and captured."

"You really know how to show a man a good time, Severus," Lupin finally muttered as he glared at his captor. Severus could see his muscles straining, but the magic of the area and his own innovations kept Lupin from making much headway.

Inhaling through his nose, Lupin tried another tack. "Tell me why, Severus. From all I knew, you were dead and gone. Why surface now? What is there to gain?"

"I have been commissioned to remove your from another's path, Lupin." Severus held up his right hand and glanced at his nails, a delaying tactic. "While I do not make this removal permanent in the final sense, I undertake to make your presence less of an, ah, imposition to the interested parties." His eyes narrowed as Lupin snorted back a laugh.

"Really? You're a removal man, Severus?" Remus laughed and shook his head as much as his constraints would allow. "Let me guess, someone's found out that I could lay a claim on them, say, dear, sweet unexpected Cousin Malfoy?" he asked shrewdly.

"Since you are aware of the Malfoys' aversion to you..." Severus pursed his lips as he thought of something else. "Wait. You knew something like this would happen, didn't you? I knew this felt too easy." His brows lowered darkly.

"Severus Snape, you can be so foolish sometimes. I've known the Malfoys are cousins since I was a young tyke." The werewolf seemed to stretch leisurely as Severus looked down at him. "I wasn't going to go to them for anything. I was," he looked up into the cold, starry sky above them and then continued, "I was on a commission for a mutual friend, Severus, someone who couldn't do himself."

"You and I have no mutual friends, Lupin, no matter what Nymphadora might have wished," Severus bit out. Lupin's softly glowing eyes—when had that happened?—bored into Severus' skin; he could feel the heated, heavy glance.

"You sell yourself short still, Severus." Lupin's back bowed as he once more attempted to pull himself up and away from the sacred ground he was laid out across. When nothing came of his efforts, he lay back with a heaving sigh. "Your magic's still as strong as ever, and just as nuanced. My compliments."

Severus ignored Lupin's comments and began grinding the holly leaves and the oak shavings, adding drops of dew to make a paste. He scooped up a dab and then bent over Lupin to write runes across his chest, from shoulder to shoulder. With each sweeping loop, every touch, Lupin shivered under his fingertip, his skin gleaming blue in the faint starlight, the runes flaring with their inherent moonlight.

"That...that's a bit painful, Severus," Lupin pushed past gritted teeth.

"It will hurt more, Lupin." Severus turned back to his temporary lab bench and added the myrrh and moonstone to the mortar. "There's moonstone."

Lupin moaned. Severus felt the goose pimples rise on the back of his neck. The moan wasn't particularly one of pain.

*** *** *** *** ***

"Harry, Harry, please, I need you to help me bring the Ghost of the Present to Severus," Eileen pleaded.

Harry refused to turn around, his eyes squeezed shut. "No. No more of this shite."

"Harry James Potter, you will pay your grandmother some respect," Draco hissed. "We're taught to respect our elders."

"Well, I wasn't, and I...she..." Harry waved one hand distractedly in Eileen's direction. "I only found out Snape was my dad a few years ago, and it still hasn't sunk in." He muttered _sotto voce_ , "The bastard."

Eileen suddenly enveloped Harry's rigid form, her notion of a hug, and Draco saw his lover's tense muscles relax bit by bit. "My poor child. I'm that sorry I wasn't here to kick my Sev's arse." Both Harry and Draco choked on laughter at that comment. "I always thought Lily would lead my boy a merry chase, but how in the world did it happen?"

"Let's just say that my dad was more interested in being an Auror and being with Sirius than anyone had ever thought." Harry stepped out of the ghostly embrace and crossed to Draco's side where he gingerly knelt down to hug him. "I'm sorry, Draco. I know I can be an idiot some—"

"Hush, Harry," Draco said as he laid a finger against Harry's lips. "Let's help your grandmother and then we'll fix Severus' wagon, eh?"

"Yeah." Harry kissed the finger against his lip and grinned. He stood up and began pacing. "So, you can tell I'm not fond of ghosts, but if I have to...well, anyhow, who's this Ghost of the Present?"

Eileen's form gleamed pearly pink. "Oh, he's a wicked boy, full of mischief...."

Another voice, one Harry hadn't heard since the Battle of Hogwarts, finished for Eileen, "and a handsome redheaded devil if there ever was one, Mum would say."

*** *** *** *** ***

Severus felt a prickling between his shoulder blades, but ignored for the moment. He had more important things to do than give in to the crawling feeling marching down his spine.

As each ingredient was added to the mortar, he refined his paste, smearing on the runes until the Yule plants were painted across Lupin's chest. His broad, lightly furred, scarred, lickable— _where had that thought come from?!_ Severus chided himself silently.

"I'm going to sever your ties to the Malfoys, Lupin." Severus picked up the Connemara marble knife, the wavering white and dark green lines seeming to glow in the starlight. "In return, I will give you the gift of another bond," he murmured under his breath, "one I hope you won't find too onerous."

Severus should have known the other man's preternatural hearing would be in tip-top shape. "Another bond?" Lupin asked. "Severus, do you know what you're doing?"

Drawing the marble knife across his non-casting index finger, Severus watched the blood slowly bead up. He felt his heart slowing as the runes across Lupin's chest began to settle into his skin, making Lupin glow and shine against the ground of the stone circle. Severus rubbed his index finger into a pile of mistletoe, crushing the berries into a red mass. He rubbed the mix into his hands and turned toward Lupin with a thin smile.

"I'm fulfilling my contract, Lupin." Severus knelt down and laid his hands across Lupin's heart and began visualizing the unravelling of a root knot. He felt rather than saw Lupin's body heating up, the runes growing solid under his fingertips. "Breathe, Lupin. This is going to hurt."

That night, the villagers spoke in hushed voices of the eerie howling that came from stones. Even the fairy folk shivered and huddled together as the night exploded with strong magic.

*** *** *** *** ***

"Fred?" Harry choked out.

"Yeah, Harry. It's me." Fred Weasley twirled in place, in midair, his once vivid hair a muted red smudge, but his grin was still bright with mischief. "When Dumbledore needed someone, I stepped right up and volunteered." He pulled a Christmas cracker out of thin air and tossed it toward Harry, chuckling as it exploded in a shower of paper crowns and Canary Creams.

"It is you," Draco breathed out. "Amazing."

"Malfoy." Fred bowed slightly in his direction. "Good choice at the end there, mate. Dumbledore said to tell you that."

Harry stepped closer to Fred's floating form. He waved his hand as if brushing away cobwebs. "Never mind that, Fred. What are you going to do as the Ghost of the Present?"

"I'm going to show you what your father's doing right now." Fred reached out and grabbed at Harry's shoulders. A sudden lack of sound and a starburst of white light, and the two of them were gone.

"Andromeda! Andromeda!" Draco stared into the space where his lover had been and jumped up from his seat, his magic roiling around him as he called for his cousin.

"Draco, Draco, lad, what happened?" Eileen asked. Andromeda held a sleepy Teddy in her arms as she ran into the room.

"Your bloody Ghost of the Present stole my fiancé!"

*** *** *** *** ***

Harry stumbled as he suddenly appeared just outside what looked like a group of menhir. Fred grinned at him and flowed away, out of reach even if Harry could grasp his ephemeral mist.

"What the hell was that, Fred?"

The ghost just smiled cheekily and gestured over Harry's shoulder. "You need to save your father, Harry. You might want to do it soon. He's killing Professor Lupin by accident."

Harry bit his lip and shook his head, but there was a heavy feeling in the atmosphere and when he turned to his right, he saw what could the reason for that: Severus Snape was kneeling over Remus Lupin's body, in the middle of a group of standing stones, and there were dark, oily shadows swirling around the two men. It looked as if a murder of crows had decided that midnight was the best time of day to flock around a kill. Harry swallowed, he could feel the wrongness of the whole situation.

"Fred, you and I are going to have this out if I have to go into the Afterlife and thrash you," Harry called over his shoulder as he set off at a lope. His wand slid easily into his hand, and his off-hand began to glow with collected energy, just in case.

His ghostly escort flew ahead, only pausing at the edge of the circle, a gleeful look of anticipation on his spectral face. "C'mon, Harry, ol' boy! Move those sticks you call legs!"

Harry scowled as he burst into the standing stones and came to a halt due to the sheer presence of magic pouring off of Severus and Remus. "Snape!" he cried out. When nothing happened, Harry tried once more. "Father! Father, let Remus go!"

*** *** *** *** ***

Remus blinked as he felt his life, his connections to his past and his future, all of it evaporating from his skin as if they were just that much wine. He felt the dregs of his very being settling into his bones and his very soul. He could also feel Severus attempting another bond, one that would tie the two of them together, but without his ties to what had come before and his hopes for what would come later, Remus couldn't find it in himself to lay open his heart, the only thing that was still his to give.

The runes burned into his flesh, opening metaphysical holes in his psyche and spirit. He could feel the sensation of pulling increasing as Severus' words and silent pleas pushed at him, urging his roots to sever from his family and to graft onto Severus'. "Hurts...Sev'rus, hurts..." he gasped and whined.

Severus' fierce gaze never wavered from his hands as they grasped and kneaded at Remus' chest, the blunt nails digging in ever-so-deeper increments, until drops of faintly glowing blood began to bead up in the crescent-shaped wounds. When enough blood had collected, Severus' murmured spells changed in pitch, taking on a darker, more guttural tone. The very air around the pair of them began to thicken, taking on an oily, sticky essence that clogged the lungs.

Remus groaned and cried out as Severus' fingers dug in and a nonverbal sound vibrated into his bones. He couldn't catch his breath, his senses were dulled so much he no longer felt any connection to anything, until—

"Snape! Father! Father, let Remus go!"

The unexpectedness of the calls roused Remus again, and this time, he wrenched at his arms, arching his back and changing the position of Severus' hands on his chest. That had the effect of smearing the runes and weakening some of the draining magic.

"Severus, stop!!" Remus forced out. "This is wrong." He fell back to the ground, the runes flaring and then fizzling out when Severus ripped his hands from Remus' chest.

Severus knelt at Remus' side, Harry's wand at his temple. Remus groaned, still bound to the ground, but feeling his magic stabilize and his connections knitting back together. "Good to see you...Har—"

*** *** *** *** ***

"Fred! Fred! Fred, you arse, get in here!" Harry yelled. He felt sick with everything floating around within the menhirs. "And bring some light!"

The apparition slipped between the stones and then clapped his hands, sending ephemeral balls of lightning zinging around the circle, popping the dark presences and brightening the scene. Once enough magic had been dissipated, Fred bobbed in place at Harry's shoulder.

"Want me to take Snape with me, Harry?" Fred grinned widely. "Wouldn't be a problem, not at all." He rubbed his spectral hands together, making a misty ball.

Harry looked over his shoulder and rolled his eyes. "Not helping." He cast a sleeping charm on Snape and watched him crumple to the ground. "Do me a favour and get someone solid, like Draco, yeah? I need to get Snape somewhere safe and Remus to a mediwitch."

Fred saluted with a flourish and bowed. "Aye, aye, cap'n! One ferrety git, right away!" He disappeared with a faint hissing sound, leaving Harry alone with one unconscious father and one barely conscious father figure.

Conjuring a seat from a memo, Harry looked down at Snape's face, trying to see anything his mother might have loved. Then, he turned his head and met Remus' glazed eyes. "Hi, Remus," he said softly. "Quite a turn-up, eh?"

Moving cramped limbs, Remus realized the binding spell was defunct now that Snape was unconscious. "Could say that." Remus rolled over onto his side, grimacing at the healing skin of his wounds. "How'd you get here?" he said on a moan as he got onto his hands and knees, eyes squeezed closed.

"Ghost of the Present." Harry reached out toward Remus with his off-hand, giving the man a boost of healing so he could get to his feet. "Seems I'm fucking Ebenezer Scrooge in my own Christmas carol."

"Oh, the curse is coming true then." Remus stood swaying on his feet, arms wrapped around his ribs and chest.

"What curse?" Harry looked down at his father's body and conjured a blanket for him and for Remus.

Remus grabbed the blanket from Harry with a sickly grin. "The Carol Curse. Lily, being Muggle thought it a bunch of hooey, and, well, being a Gryffindor, she invoked it." Remus shivered within his blanket. "Told her it wasn't a joke, but, she laughed that wickedly sweet laugh of hers and said Charles Dickens wasn't a wizard and his words weren't anything but metaphor." Remus nodded tiredly toward Severus. "'Splains so much 'bout Sev."

"Harry! Harry James Potter! I'm never letting out of my sight again." Draco stalked into the standing stone circle, his magic fairly sizzling around him in a cloud of power. He came to a sudden stop when he saw Snape on the ground, under a blanket, and Remus wavering at Harry's side. "Oh, you Gryffindors. Can't be let out without keepers." 

He stepped closer to Remus and put an arm around the man. "Harry, get your father and follow me to St. Mungo's." Draco glared at Harry's open mouth and smirked when it snapped shut. "That's right. Now, let's leave this place." 

As he hefted Snape into his arms, Harry saw Fred sitting on one of menhirs. "Thanks, Fred. For everything, even tho' I'm still kicking your arse later."

"Go on with you, Harry Potter!" Fred called out. He began singing as Harry disApparated: " _We three Wizards of Orient are, bearing magic from near and far, spells and charms, and wicked curses for eh-very boy and girl..._ "

*** *** *** *** ***

Remus woke to soft singing and a small hand wrapped around his thumb. He glanced down his arm to see his son sleeping wrapped around his arm.

" _I heard the bells on Yuletide Morn, they're old familiar carol play..._ "

The song faded away with a chuckle as Andie pushed open the bedroom door. "Happy Christmas Eve, Remus." Her arms were full of presents. Remus looked past her to see a thin wisp of a woman hovering in the doorway. Literally.

"Ah, Andie, there's a ghost in the doorway," Remus said after clearing his throat.

"Wolf doesn't smell me," another voice said with a laugh. Remus blinked and a goblin walked straight through the phantom's form. "Grimhammer of Gringotts, Mr. Wolf." The goblin bowed, the ghost resolved itself into a more solid form that looked vaguely like Severus Snape in an old-fashioned dress, and Andie and a newly awake Teddy laughed.

"Ah, hello, Mr. Grimhammer. My name's not Wolf; it's Remus Lu—"

The goblin pulled out a thick scroll of vellum from what looked like a bottomless bag and unrolled it with a practiced flick of his wrist. He cleared his throat officiously and began reading:

> I, Albus Dumbledore, being of sound mind, do hereby bequeath the following properties to my cousin, Remus John Lupin, son of Wilhemina Lovelace and Reynard Wolf Lupin, son of Antoine Lovegood Malfoy, son of Hieronymous Lovegood, son of Aloyisus Prince Lovegood, son of Ambrosius Lupin Malfoy: 
> 
> • One Debrett's Magical Genealogy of Britain and France, perpetually updating.  
>  • One cottage and five acres, 1212 Mockingbird Lane, North Hampshire, North Hamps.  
>  • One manse and one hundred acres, 1066 Conquer's Ride, The Downs, Devonshire.  
>  • Two Gringotts' accounts, one for house expenses, the other for those expenses arising from his hereditary duties as Lord Assayer of The Downs.  
>  • One contract of marriage and nomenclature between Eugenia Elizabeth Malfoy + Reynard Henrie (nee Lupin) Malfoy  
>  • One mantle of office as Honorary Magistrate of North Hampshire, to sit in judgement of all claims pertaining to those of accursed or non-wizarding mien.
> 
> This will is attested to by Hermione Longbottom-Smythe and Winston Debrett, Witch and Wizard, and Bloodcry Grimhammer, Goblin, this year of our Queen, 7 October 1991.

Grimhammer let the scroll roll up with a smirk on his face. "This contract, being the great Dumbledore's will for you, is legal and binding." He winked Remus. "Since you are a deputy of the Crown, you is a wizard, with all right and privileges thereof." Grimhammer laid the scroll down on the foot of the bed, bowed and turned toward the door. He looked back with a more genuine smile on his green face. "This means Remus Lupin is not anything but a man, whatever the Wizengamot might say. Good day to yous all, and we'll be seeing you soon to discuss your monies."

The ghost drifted closer and curtsied. "It's so good to meet you, Cousin Lupin."

"If I didn't know better, I'd say you were related to Severus Snape," Remus murmured, his eyes on the scroll sitting so innocently there by his feet.

"I am. He's my own poor, wayward son." She assumed a seated pose and hovered over covers, brushing her fingers over Teddy's ever-changing hair.

Remus suddenly barked out a laugh. "Oh, Merlin, it's almost Boxing Day, isn't it?" he asked out of the blue.

When everyone nodded, he grinned. "But, it's just Christmas Day, yes?" 

"Uh huh, Daddy." Teddy's grin matched his father's.

"Good. That means I can finally get myself the best gift a man can give himself." He tugged his son close and hugged him. "Ted, how would feel about having another Snape in the family?" Andie and Eileen shared a complacent look and then tried to look innocent when Remus focussed his attention on them. 

"Well, then, let's find Severus and tell him that while his ritual didn't work, he's still going to make a new bond for me." He laughed again. "For all of us."

"Oh, Remus...I may call you 'Remus', mayn't I?" Eileen wittered and bobbed in place. "I always wanted a big family.

"I like Nymphadora would approve, too, Remus."

"Then let's get this done before Severus' overweening guilt makes it difficult." 

They bent their heads together and began planning a Boxing Day to remember.

*** *** *** *** ***

**~ Epilogue ~**

Severus found himself bound to a standing stone, barely clothed and surprisingly warm. He thought it should be a dream, but, the scratchy texture of the stone against his skin, and, when he turned his head, the nude, finely made form of Remus Lupin bound to another menhir dissuaded him.

_“Nguh…”_

Thankfully that groan had dragged Severus’ glance upward, away from temptation. Another internal voice disagreed, vehemently.

“What in Morgana’s name happened?” the unobservant Lupin asked, his own eyes still hidden behind bruised-looking lids. He tried to move his arms and chains scraped against the column holding him upright.

“What’s the last thing you remember?” Severus said in a stage whisper. It was satisfying to see Lupin start at the sound of his voice, and bang his thick skull back against the column. It was damned satisfying!

“Ow…bloody hell, that’s hard,” Lupin whinged. Severus had to bite his lip to keep his chuckles back, but his eyes strayed downward and suddenly his teeth were trying to stop his own groans from slipping out.

Lupin squinted through the pain. “Snape? Severus?”

“Aye, who else would it be?” he snarled, tearing his interested gaze away from Lupin’s _assets_. Then he muttered, “Isn't this just my luck?”

Surprisingly, Lupin laughed long and hard. Which was distracting in and of itself, but with all the gloriously firm flesh shaking in mirth... Severus found his mouth suspiciously dry, and no amount of swallowing could rid it of the arid feeling.

When he felt he could, Severus bit out, "What on Earth are you laughing about, you loon?"

"Well, I was planning a Boxing Day to remember, but I shouldn't have discounted the Malfoy side of the family, should I?" Lupin flexed his muscles and Severus watched as the chains squealed and stretched, thinning until several links broke with a shattering sound. Severus licked his lips at the sight of all that power.

Lupin shook his arms and bent over, breaking the chains holding his legs. "All right. You're next, Severus."

"Oh, my, my, my!" a spectral voice sang out. "So big and strong... Severus, you're a very lucky man."

Severus rolled his eyes, and looked toward where the voice came from. "Don't tell me...since Harry had the Ghost of the Past and the Ghost of the Present..."

Lily Potter appeared as if from thin air, which she did, and with a flourish. There were coloured lights and the faint sound of spring birds twittering. "The Ghost of the Future, at your service, lover." Lily swept Severus a full curtsy, sending a flirtatious glance Remus' way. "And Remus."

"Did you have anything to do with this?" Severus asked suspiciously. He barely registered Remus snapping the chains at his ankles as he glared at the mother of his child.

"Oh, Sev, really!" Lily twirled in midair, her hair a fiery smear around her. "I'm only here to give you my blessing." She came to a stop, a serious look on her face. "I want you and Remus to have long lives full of happiness, Sev. I've never wanted anything more."

Remus leaned to the left and the right, twisting to crack his spine, drawing the attention of the ghostly witch and the very much alive wizard. He smirked at Severus' sour look when he noticed just where Lily's eyes were fixed. "Lily Potter, restrain yourself and put your eyes where it's polite for them to be!"

"That was a bit like jealousy, Sev." Lily's lips curled into a grin. "Although Remus is a lovely sight for sore eyes..."

"Lily, I hate to interrupt this happy reunion, but, can you tell me how we can get out of here?" Remus pulled an unresisting Severus close, reminding him of all that glorious skin just at his fingertips. She nodded and pointed toward a shadowy niche at the base of one of the standing stones.

"I think you might find something you can use."

"Lily, you're being awfully artful about all this," Remus said with a wry grin of his own.

Lily's pale cheeks gained a faint pink pearly sheen. "Well, I might have slipped into Narcissa's dreams and, er, tweaked her more bloody plans..."

Severus laughed a bit wildly. "Bloody Gryffindors." Remus hugged him closer and scowled at Lily.

"Lils, go get Harry. I'm not trusting anything hidden out here."

Looking a bit forlorn, Lily pouted and disappeared without a sound.

"She's gone, Severus," Remus murmured into Severus' hair. He hummed as Severus turned in his arms and embraced him, those long potion-stained fingers kneading his lower back like a happy kitten. "Ah, Severus? You're not angry, are you?"

Remus felt Severus' lips against his throat as the man smiled. "No, Lupin, for once I'm very glad that someone's machinations turned out to my benefit." He kissed Remus' throat, sucking a love bit right over his Adam's-apple. "Funny how I'll be creating a new bond for you, even after all of what came before." Those sensitive fingers were tracing abstract shapes just above Remus' buttocks, making the man growl and shiver. "You'd like that, wouldn't you? Remus?"

Putting a hand under Severus' chin, Remus tipped it up and pressed a closed mouth kiss to Severus' lips. "For all the trouble the Malfoys went to, they should have just put us together in a room and I would have forgotten anything about being related to them." He leaned down and licked the seam of Severus' lips until they opened.

"Ah, Remus? Do you mind not fondling my father while I'm around?"

Severus and Remus shared an exasperated look and then Remus pulled Severus closer. "Ah, just so you know, Harry, I'm a bit naked here." 

Harry shook his head and tossed a pair of robes at Remus and Severus. "Best get dressed. Draco's brought the Malfoys to Grimmauld Place, and Andie and Teddy and the ghosts are there waiting for us, too."

"Harry, thank you." Severus looked into Harry's eyes. "Thank you, son."

Remus grinned and grabbed both men by the arm. "See, a Boxing Day to remember!"

_~~~ Comments, like rain in the desert, are greatly appreciated.  
Thank you for reading. ~~~_  


**Author's Note:**

> ****  
>  Reference and Research   
> 
> 
> [The Legend of the Holly King and the Oak King](http://paganwiccan.about.com/od/yulethelongestnight/p/Holly_KIng_Yule.htm)
> 
> [A Christmas Carol in Prose; Being a Ghost Story of Christmas by Charles Dickens [a Project Gutenberg e-book]](http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/46)
> 
> HOLLY @ WebMD.com
> 
> [Clivocast, Standing Stones/Menhir, of Shetland](http://www.themodernantiquarian.com/site/375/clivocast.html)
>
>>   
> _Genealogy:_
>> 
>>  
>> 
>> Tintinnabula Lovegood Malfoy + Ambrosius (nee Lupin) Malfoy  
> →  
> Eugenia Elizabeth Malfoy + Reynard Henrie (nee Lupin) Malfoy  
> →  
> Eugenia Elizabeth Potter + Hannibal William Malfoy  
> & Cecil Potter Dumbledore + Beatrice Elizabeth Malfoy  
> & Cecily Anne Longbottom + Hephaestus Clyde Malfoy  
> & Ophelia Louise Lovegood + Aloysius Prince (nee Malfoy) Lupin  
> →  
> Victor Albert Potter + Cassiopeia Prince Lupin  
> & Hieronymus Lovegood Lupin + Margaret (nee Dumbledore-Smythe) Malfoy [widow]  
> →  
> Reynard Wolf Lupin + Sarah Jane Lovelace _squib_  
>  →  
> Remus John Lupin


End file.
